Pain at the pump, dining solo, Arctic mystery: Catch up on the day’s stories

By Daniel Wine, CNN

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Renowned chef Hillary Sterling has worked in kitchens with some culinary icons. Every meal doesn’t have to be a big production, though — she shared her favorite recipe for dining solo.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.

5 things

1️⃣ Pain at the pump

Gas prices are within striking distance of $5 a gallon, a threshold that seemed virtually impossible when the year started. The summer driving season is right around the corner, and that could push demand even higher.

2️⃣ ‘Blue dot’ in a sea of red

It’s been a decade since Nebraska sent a Democrat to Congress, but a Republican’s decision to retire turned his district into a key November battleground. Today’s primary ballot is crowded with contenders.

3️⃣ CNN Exclusive

Anderson Cooper sits down with former Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, who says he was fired by the Trump administration for refusing to purge agents who investigated the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.

4️⃣ Mystery solved

Researchers identified the remains of four sailors from a doomed 19th-century Arctic expedition by matching DNA to their living descendants. Along the way, they cleared up a case of mistaken identity.

5️⃣ Tough adjustment

After living in California, Ireland and Colorado, an American family settled down in a small town in Germany. They feel right at home now, but it wasn’t easy at first.

Watch this

💥 Crazy collision: A motorcycle ended up dangling from a traffic light pole after crashing into a car in British Columbia, authorities said. See how it happened.

Top headlines

• Cost of Iran war increases to $29 billion so far, Pentagon official says
• Justice Department announces criminal charges in Baltimore’s deadly Key Bridge collapse
• FDA chief to depart after Trump signed off on ousting him

Check this out

🧊 ‘Triple whammy’: For decades, it seemed Antarctica might be insulated from the kind of rapid ice melting unfolding in the Arctic. That changed several years ago, and now scientists say they’ve figured out why.

For CNN subscribers

• He earned a Purple Heart fighting for the US. Swept up in Trump’s immigration crackdown, he now fights to come home
• A Russian ship sank in mysterious circumstances. It may have been carrying submarine nuclear reactors to North Korea
• Analysis: The Iran war could have a surprising silver lining for the global economy

Quiz time

📺 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is returning to his reality TV roots. What show was he on back in 1997?
A. “The Bachelor”
B. “Big Brother”
C. “The Real World”
D. “Survivor”
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Thanks for reading

✅ Most popular in yesterday’s newsletter: How discarded chewing gum helped convict a serial rapist of two cold case murders

🧠 Quiz answer: C. Duffy appeared on “The Real World: Boston,” but his new project — filmed with his family over the last seven months — has sparked criticism and ethics questions.

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Today’s edition of 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN’s Kimberly Richardson and Toni Odejimi.